The “Little Way” of Motherhood
Two days ago was the feast of St. Therese of Lisieux and it often gets me thinking about her “Little Way” and how much I want to follow it.
I have encountered St. Therese many times over the years. I first heard about her as a child. I even named my guardian angel after her.
Then when I was in 8th grade, I was preparing for confirmation. The religious sister in charge of the program said we needed to choose the saint name in our first or middle name as our confirmation name. I was disappointed, because I really wanted Therese to be my confirmation saint. However, I did not let this setback decrease my devotion to St. Therese and her “Little Way.”
Then, when my husband and I were in college, we wanted to start a family. I visited with a retired couple from the church, and I told them I was hoping to conceive. They gave me a St. Therese novena folder. I wanted so much to be a mom!
As a homeschool mom, I also “met” St. Therese in Suzie Andres’s homeschool books. Her books gave me so much peace about homeschooling in a gentle manner, and this greatly transformed my family’s homeschool.
Now in my breastfeeding ministry work, I find myself imitating St. Therese. Because there did not seem to be much secular breastfeeding support in my town, I formed a nursing support group called “Rose Petal.” The motto of Rose Petal is: nursing moms and their babies are beautiful like roses. If you go to the website, you should recognize some of the posts. They are from this blog!
I believe the “Little Way” is very applicable to the vocation of motherhood. Some of the central ideas of the “Little Way” include: childlikeness, surrender to God, and gratitude.
Being a mom helps us appreciate childlikeness and surrender. Children live in the present - enjoying all the little things of their day. As moms we can live in the present by trying to focus on what we are doing - be it washing dishes, folding laundry, or taking care of a child. Also, we can rediscover or find new things that bring us joy. These can be as simple as enjoying a cup of hot cocoa or bigger picture things like making time for a passion, dream or hobby.
Children trust their parents to care for them and to love them just as we should trust our Heavenly Father to love and care for us. If we, as moms, struggle with surrendering and trusting God, we can do it moment by moment or hour by hour until it becomes a habit. We can also talk to God about it and ask for His help.
Gratitude is a daily habit we can add to our day. We can thank God for a few things in the morning or before bed. We can write those items down in a journal or just make it a prayer. Also, just being sure to say “thank you” often to others is another way to make gratitude a habit.
If you like the “Little Way” philosophy, you might look into the Walking with Purpose Bible studies. Their patron is St. Therese. I am leading one of the studies in my parish right now and all the moms seem to be enjoying it. We are doing the “Living in the Father’s Love” study. We only meet once per month (instead of once per week) to make it less overwhelming for the moms. If you are interested in taking part in one of these Bible studies over zoom with other CNML moms, send me an email and let’s get it set up!
Some resources about the “Little Way”:
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